The following was received by email this morning from Kevin Cook City of Lakeland Director of Communications
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From Kevin Cook: The City of Lakeland has received a letter of retirement from City Attorney Tim McCausland. The letter was delivered first thing this morning, effective immediately. The letter is attached along with the email message sent by the City Manager to the Lakeland City Commission notifying them. The City Attorney is an employee of the City Commission and once the City was made aware of the issue involving Mr. McCausland, the Commission asked for options for possible disciplinary procedures. The procedure options were sent to the Lakeland City Commission yesterday at 12:15 pm. The memo identifying the options are listed below. Both email memos below were sent from Tony Delgado, City Manager to the Lakeland City Commission.
Mayor & Commissioners,
A few of you individually have asked me directly what are the parameters and responsibilities of the Commission as it relates to the incident that took place yesterday involving the City Attorney, Tim McCausland. Assistant City Attorney Palmer Davis and I have spent the morning researching the responsibilities of your offices as it relates to the Charter. As you are already aware, the City Commission is responsible for appointing and managing oversight of the City Attorney and, pursuant to the City Charter, he holds the office at the pleasure of the City Commission. The Charter does not specify any particular process or procedure governing disciplinary action related to the City Attorney. That being said, if the Commission is evaluating possible administrative options, Palmer and I have taken the liberty of offering the following information:
Any action taken by the Commission will require either a specially called meeting of the Commission or noticed discussion on the agenda of a regularly scheduled meeting of the City Commission. The meeting would be subject to the Sunshine Law. The meeting must be open to the public and citizens will have access to any minutes and reports associated with the meeting.
Unlike many of the employees of the City, the City Attorney’s position does not fall under Civil Service protections and thus the potential investigation and decisions on any disciplinary actions are the sole responsibility of the commission.
Similar to the City Policy, the Commission has the authority to place both the City Attorney and City Manager on administrative leave pending further evaluation of the issue and the collection of additional information and background data associated with the incident or allegations in question. Clearly, the Commission can also decide on a more significant direction, up to and including termination, if the Commission as a body sees reason. Regardless of the proposed action, a meeting of the Commission must be scheduled in accordance with the Charter and Sunshine Law in order to decide on any proposed action.
As you navigate through the issue at hand, Palmer and I are at your disposal to assist where required though no formal recommendation will be offered on our part. If you have any questions please respond directly to me and not a “reply all” email.
Thank you, Tony
Mayor & Commissioners,
On the City Commissions behalf, I have received the attached letter of Retirement from City Attorney Tim McCausland delivered this morning. The attached correspondence identifies the retirement to be effective immediately and City staff will begin initiating the process on the Commissions behalf. In addition to administering the normal retirement processes, I will be reaching out to Mr. McCausland today to request that the City issued iPad be returned per policy. The City does not dispose of City property in the manner he has requested. Mr. McCausland’s access to City property and the City network has been terminated immediately per normal procedure.
I trust that the Commission, as the responsible administrative authority on this issue, is in concurrence with the direction.
Thank you for your support, Tony